cell phone

KDDI, Japan’s second biggest mobile phone carrier, showcased a number of cell phone prototypes in their five-floor Design Studio [JP] in central Tokyo. The phones were designed by award-winning design wunderkind Hideo Kanbara [JP].
I went to the so-called Ply Exhibition [JP] (which ended yesterday), made some pictures but actually left mildly disappointed. The phones (featuring… Read More

Image source: Cellular-news
Picture it now. A Ralph Lauren boardroom full of green MBAs, ripe in their late twenties, tweeting away on their iPhones. Suddenly, one of the suits light bulb pops on: “Gentleman, we need to embrace the online marketplace and provide our customers innovative shopping solutions.” (Those playing the corporate drinking game can now take three… Read More

Yesterday Fujitsu presented [JP] Spotcast, a new transmission system that enables customers inside stores to receive up-to-date shopping information on their cell phones.
The technology only works if shoppers own handsets equipped with 1-Seg digital TV tuners, which are becoming ubiquitous in Japan (there are currently 33 million of these handsets in circulation). If he or she is interested in… Read More

Relatively blurry screenshots (1-seg digital TV broadcast for portable devices in Japan)
Toshiba Japan managed to develop a prototype chip that makes it possible to view videos on cell phones and portable media players with the same quality as LCD TVs.
Large-size LCD screens use special chips that can speed up the slow switching response of liquid crystal molecules, which makes it possible… Read More

Sprint recently launched a clever promotion campaign for their Instinct, calling for users to somehow place the cell phone in home videos and then post them on YouTube (official tagline: “Sell out your family, turn little Suzy into gas money”). First prize: $10,000.
I think this video above is quite a good start, probably because it somehow reminded me of Prodigy’s Smack my… Read More

Over the course of a couple of years, Bluetooth on cell phones went from a foreign fantasy to a crippled luxury to a standard (if still often crippled) feature on virtually every new cell phone. Putting aside the fashion merits of wearing a headset in public (an accessory that seems to be favored by an odd combination of middle manager-type office workers and guys’ whose raison… Read More

Apple notes it is the only player one of two players in WiFi enabled smart phones offering expanded reach when cell coverage is, well, not so good. This week, NEC was issued a related patent on wirelessly downloading files by selecting between cellular or WiFi networks reminding us that the iPhone is going to launch with so many cool features, and will most happily step on some toes in… Read More

Thanks to the Copyright Royalty Board, beginning in mid-July, all Internet radio stations will see substantially higher royalty fees. Fees so high, that it isn’t difficult to imagine vast swaths of the musical Internet becoming dead air overnight.
Most frightening of all is the prospect of losing Pandora — one of the truly great things to come from the entire Interweb. I had… Read More

Skullcandy has been creating some interesting products such as their headphones, MP3 watches and backpacks.
They were just issued their first patent on a personal portable integrator for a music player and mobile phone (US Patent 7,187,948). It’s a smart device that links your cellphone and music player with the ability to override music when you have a call – aptly named… Read More

Although culled from a site that contains questionable Hungarian (someone translate this for me if they can), the Asus Aura concept phone looks like a solid competitor to the iPhone — if it ever comes out.
The site claims that the Aura will have a 3.9-inch touchscreen with a foldout QWERTY Keypad, along with a 2-megapixel camera. It also will feature Bluetooth, microSD, miniUSB, and… Read More

While I was exploring MacWorld 2007 in San Francisco, I finally ventured into a little area where the iPhone slumbered in its own little case. After fighting through the crowd of golems and hobbits to get closer to the phone, I finally got to take some close up shots of the sexiest cell phone I’ve ever seen.
Everything on the iPhone looks top notch, but can anyone say smudge/scratch central? Read More

Samsung brings us some mobile goodness, they’ve launched the first mobile phone with an optical joystick. The SCH-V960 which hits stores in Korea this month is outfitted with a 2-megapixel camera, GPS, documents viewer, microSD slot and Bluetooth. What’s great about this phone is the optical joystick and the ease of use through the interface it allows users. It’s pretty much… Read More

I have to admit, I never thought of cell phones being a problem in hospitals. It makes sense, though. There’s a good bit of expensive, electronic equipment all over the place and phones just love to get in there and mess with all that. This is, of course, why they’re not allowed on airplanes.
Recently, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency put the clamp down on… Read More

This little guy may look like a simple GPS, but do you see that little lit LED light in the top right corner? That’s to let you know that you have an incoming phone call. That’s right, this thing has GPRS 900/1000/1900 and it knows how to use it. The GPS01 by Sunlike International Electronic of Shenzhen also has that dazzling 4-inch TFT screen, a CF Type II card slot, a 28mm… Read More

For the past several months I’ve been regularly using the Samsung T809 from T-Mobile. I really dig the slider’s design, features and display, despite the crappy battery life I get from it. Well this leaked Samsung SGH-i760 Windows Mobile 5 for Pocket PC Smartphone with slide-out QWERTY keyboard looks like the Hershey Big Block to the T809’s Miniature. The specs look… Read More

<img src="http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2007/01/A Super Nerd. And we're all for it. This m300 GSM phone will have a 99-count phone book, 70 hours of standby, and will be available by Christmas season. Their site says we have 72 days left until its release date of December 1, so we're super excited.
The watch also has Bluetooth in case you wanted to use a headset… Read More

Engadget Mobile got to unbox the new Motorola KRZR K1, excited? You should be!
The new KRZR K1 has gotten some upgrades including an easier to use key pad (no longer sticking out), light green LEDs for a better visual experience and improvements on the phone’s speaker. Nothing too big, but it’s quite flashy.
KRZR K1 [Engadget Mobile] Read More

Cell phone application developers have a new tool for developing future products. Trolltech has launched their Qtopia Greenphone, an open Linux mobile device that allows you to write and install your own apps, or tweak the ones that Trolltech has already installed. They say this allows developers to be able “to utilize communication functions and features found in today’s… Read More

Porn publishing giant, Penthouse, announced today that they will begin offering mobile content throughout the Americas and Europe. This content will include games, editorials, audio and video clips, and (duh) pictures. There will even be a new mobileTV channel for the service. They’re saying that it will become available in the next couple of months. I can’t wait to be riding the… Read More

Convergence is the name of the game with the HTC P3300 PDA-Phone. The P3300 comes with a GPS and TomTom Navigator 6 both built-in, which means this can be your primary GPS navigation device if you don’t already have one (if you’re in Europe).
The device itself runs Windows Mobile 5.0, has a GPS module, GSM/GPRS/EDGE connectivity, Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi, FM Radio, and push email… Read More